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Is it Just Me? - Miranda Hart
by scooch12
I first came across Miranda Hart from her TV series, self titled "Miranda", a comedy show that follows her life running a joke shop and having various mishaps along the way from run ins with her mother whose aim in life is to find her a boyfriend to her clear love for Gary her best friend. I remember her also appearing in ... another of my favourite shows, Not Going Out, but she wasn't a major role and didn't know much about her back then.
Her first autobiography was a present I got for Christmas as I normally enjoy reading books that don't need too much concentration and can be a light read at the end of a long day for half an hour before bed and wanted to find out a little bit more about her. This was a great book and was a book I couldn't put down although it's not written in the style I was expecting as it isn't your typical celebrity autobiography where each chapter focuses on their life starting when they were children, growing up and eventually becoming famous. She doesn't go into too much depth about her life and when she does it's in a very light hearted way.
Each chapter instead focuses on a topic, eg marriage, holidays, relationships etc. She tells little stories that she has about each topic that are, on the whole, very funny and a lot of which I found myself laughing out loud to. Some of which I even could relate to (not too often, honestly)! She speaks to her childhood self in the book a lot (there are lots of conversations between little Miranda and Miranda as she is now) which I think
adds to it and makes some stories even funnier - the only thing I could negatively say was that I thought this might have perhaps been done a little too much throughout and after a while you just wanted to carry on hearing about what she had to say about each of the topics. The only other thing was that I was slightly disappointed that it didn't mention her TV show much at all really and I had asked for the book for Christmas
mainly as I was interested about how she got her big break and ended up with her own show.
All in all though it's a great light hearted book and fabulous if you just want to read something when your mind has been occupied with work all day. It probably helps that I've found her BBC series funny and some of the stories are similar to those she tells on the show. It's a book that will definitely make you laugh out loud at some point if you've enjoyed her work on TV.
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1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off - John Lloyd
by DEBDEB
I watch very little television. It simply isn't my thing. Books on the other hand are a different matter. I devour them, always have, always will. Now, whilst I was aware a popular TV programme called QI existed, I had never watched it. So, I came across this book fortuitously while I was perusing book offers.
There was a ... time-limited offer for the digital edition of this book for the Kindle on Amazon for a ridiculous price of 20p so I instinctively went for it. This is a brilliant book. It is packed full of interesting and very interesting facts. Reading this is not a dry academic endeavour. It is cleverly written, with one fact, just a sentence or two long dovetailing nicely into the next. Even with this arrangement you don't actually have to read it in the order it is written. You can start anywhere and stop anywhere and it will be interesting.
It is the case that, when it comes to books, taste is very personal. As such, some may find this to be full of useless if sometimes funny trivia. I tend to look at this kind of read as fascinating. Things you never thought about but are astonished to discover. In many cases, it may lead you to research the subject further as your curiosity is aroused. Take these facts for example (don't worry, not a spoiler; I'm mentioning less than 0.1% of what is in the book):
* "The first book ever printed in Oxford had a misprint on the first page: They got the date wrong".
* Caffeine constitute the same 'ingredients' as cocaine, thalidomide, Nylon, TNT and heroin namely the elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen
* A language dies every 14 days
* In the 19th and early 20th century, the most popular 21st birthday present was to have all your teeth removed and replaced with false ones
* The human brain takes in 11 million bits of information every second but is aware of only 40
* Until 1913, it was legal to send children by parcel post in America.
OK, that is only six of the 1227 'gems' you will find in this book. By the way, QI stands for 'Quite Interesting'. You have to agree that is on the mark.
This book is so well written for easy reading that you can be forgiven to forget that this is a very seriously researched book. For those who watch the TV programme, the pleasure is probably enhanced. I loved it and will surely delve in again a few times. Also handy for those who relish a one-upmanship down the pub on quiz night. A very enjoyable book indeed.
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Is it Just Me? - Miranda Hart
by gingerbreadal
After watching Miranda Hart's television series (and watching some of her other performances), I was very keen to read this book! Many people have described it as silly or childish, which of course is Miranda's charm! If you are interested in her comedy, or maybe want to get a taste of the Miranda-experience, then by all means try out ... this book.
The book includes various chapters such as 'Music', 'Holidays', 'Dating', etc., with some hilarious anecdotes, and witty inputs from Miranda's younger self. Some chapters are better than others (for example, my favourite is probably 'Exercise'), and it is probably not a book where you will laugh out loud throughout. Having said that, it's fun and silly and in fact Miranda poses some interesting questions and, in a strange way, makes you step back, think about life and all its foibles, and chuckle to yourself! In relation to this, I found myself agreeing with many of Miranda's observations, which is also why I was drawn to the book, because of its title (Is It Just Me?). Often throughout this book, you'll think to yourself 'No, Miranda, it definitely isn't just you!'; this is one of the book's many charms!
Sometimes Miranda goes off on a tangent, and you might become lost or even a bit bored in parts, but personally, since I particularly love her type of humour, I enjoyed this book on a whole. If you hate silly slapstick comedy, or over-the-top dramatics, then do not read this book, because you will not like it!
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